2019: Those asking Buhari not to run mean well - Northern leader says

- A northern leader has called on President Buhari to listen to the advice of people telling him not to contest in 2019

- He said the president's antecedent as a military head of state is coming to hunt him now

- Going further, he called on President Donald Trump to ask Buhari why he jailed an American citizen in 1984

Dr Umar Ardo, secretary of northern leaders and stakeholders assembly, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to listen to those telling him not to contest in 2019 because they are good people who wish him well.

He claimed that the president’s antecedents as a former military dictator are coming back to haunt him.

Ardo, while speaking with journalist in Abuja on Sunday, April 29 said: “I believe those who advised him not to run are being kind to him and are lovers of this country because they know he has lost the support of majority of Nigerians and if he recontests and wants to use incumbency to force himself back to office, he will only plunge the country into unfathomable crises that will not be in the interest of anyone.

“But since he discountenanced with their advice we will all meet at the polls.”

Going further, he called on United States president, Donald Trump, who would be meeting with President Buhari on Monday, April 30, to ask the Nigerian president why his military administration jailed an American citizen, Mahmet Ben Chembi, for 95 years in 1984.

“There was this case of the wealthy American lady, Mahmet Ben Chembi, who brought in her $17 million from the US to invest in plumbing in the building of Abuja, but was framed of defrauding the Nigerian State and taken to Buhari’s Military Tribunal and jailed for 95 years without a shred of evidence adduced against her by the government.

“On top of it, she was fined N500 million. It was the regime of another military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida that set up a Judicial Review Panel that reviewed the case and released her from jail.

“President Donald Trump should ask his guest, President Muhammadu Buhari, while he did that to his (Trump ) citizen.

“There was also the case of a wealthy Nigerian woman resident in Saudi Arabia who returned to the country and was arrested on arrival at Kano airport, taken to the tribunal and jailed 10 years for being in possession of N600. She had a 5-year old daughter who was sent to jail along with her.,” he said.

The former head of state and retired army general urged CNM members not to be threatened but work with the mind of redeeming Nigeria while urging all qualified electorates to obtain their Permanent Voters Card (PVC) ahead of the poll.

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